Germany and Maldives have reached a milestone in their history of bilateral relations with Germany opening a permanent Visa Applications Centre in Male.
The official opening of the Visa Application Centre was held on 2 March at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and inaugurated by the German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Jörn Rohde and Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid. This will allow Maldivian residents to apply for a Schengen visa for Germany directly in the Maldives without visiting the visa application centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka which is the procedure that was required prior to the opening of the new Visa Application Centre. 
During the opening, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Jörn Rohde stated that the opening of the new centre will further strengthen the close ties between the two countries and facilitate trade, business and tourism and appreciated the support rendered by the Maldivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make this initiative a success. He also expressed hope that other major European countries will follow suit and offer services through VFS in Male. The Czech Republic joined hands with Germany in this momentous occasion, presenting Maldivian residents with the opportunity of applying for Schengen visa for the Czech Republic as well.
Ambassador Rohde, in his concluding remarks, once again acknowledged the excellent state of the bilateral relations between the two countries, the most recent event being the meeting between the Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Mass and his counterpart FM Shahid where a multitude of topics of common interest have been discussed. Ambassador Rohde assured further cooperation in areas where the two governments work closely on i.e. fighting climate change, supporting legal reform, combating violent extremism and strengthening multilateralism.
Ambassador of Czech Republic to the Republic of Maldives Milan Hovorka, Minister of
Tourism in Maldives Ali Waheed and VFS representative Jaya Amrit Mitra Head of Operations (South India, Sri Lanka, Maldives) were also present at the event.
For further information on visa inquiries, please visit the VFS website: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/lka/en/deu/.
VFS Global acts as the official partner of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany managing the administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa.
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